Machine for removing bronze-dust.



PATENTED DEC. 10. 1907.

A.J.PORD. MACHINE FOB. REMOVING BRONZE DUST.

APPLICATION FILED AUG,.16. 1907.

4 8 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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P'IATENTED DEC. 10

IA.J.FORD.' MACHINE FOR REMOVING BRONZE DUST.

APPLIUATION FILED AUG. 16. 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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PATENTED DEC. 10, 1907.

A. J. FORD. MACHINE FOR REMOVING BRONZE DUST.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 16. 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

NORRIS ks'rs 11s UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' ALBERT J. FORD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE FUCHS & LANG MANUFACTURING 00., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MACHINE FOR REMOVING BRONZE-DUST.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Dec. 10, 1907.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT J. FORD, a citizen of the United States, residing in New York, in the boron h of Manhattan, county and State of New ork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Removing Bronze-Dust, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to a machine for removing bronze or other dust from sheets of metal, paper or other material after printing in bronze colors, the machine being of that type in which the sheet is carried through between rollers moving in opposite direction to each other and which serve to remove the adhering surplus bronze-powder from both surfaces of the sheets and collect the same in a box, from which it is removed from time to time; and the invention consists of a machine for removing bronze-dust from sheets, which comprises endless sheetcarrying chains, means for imparting reciprocating motion to said chains, a grippermechanism carried by said chains and adapted to grip the sheet fed at the ingoing end, bronze-removing rollers rotating in opposite direction to each other, a bronze-powder collecting-box inclosing said rollers, means for releasing the gripper-mechanism from the sheet after thesame has passed through thebronze-powder collecting-box, and means for delivering the sheet after the same has passed the bronze dust removing-rollers; and the invention consists further of certain details of construction of the gripper mechanism and the means for closing the same at the ingoing end of the machine so as to grip the sheet and then move it, by means of the endless chains, through the bronze-collecting box and between the bronze-dust removingrollers; and the invention consists lastly of certain additional details of construction which will be fully described hereinafter and finally pointed out in the claims.

In'the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side-elevation of my improved machine for removin bronze-dust from sheets, Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section on line 2, 2, Fig. 3, of the mechanism for gripping the sheets, located at the ingoing end of the machine, drawn on a larger scale, Fig. 3 is a plan-view of the gripper-mechanism shown in Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a side-view showing the gripper mechanism released from the sheet at the outgoing or deliveryend of the machine, Fig. 5 is a detail vertical transverse section on line 5, 5, Fig. 3, Fig. 6 is a side-elevation of the gripper-mechanism, similar to Fig. 2, but showing the same in open position ready for receiving the sheet, Fig. 7 is a vertical longitudinal section on line 7, 7, Fig. 8, showing the gripper-mechanism in open position, and Fig. 8 is a planview of the gripper-mechanism.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in. the different figures of the rawings.

Referring to the drawings, f represents the frame of my improved machine for'removing bronze-dust. The frame f is composed of upright side-standards which carry on suitable brackets, at one end, a feed-table f for the sheets, and at the opposite or outgoing end a delivery-shelf f for the same. At the center of the supportin -frame f is arranged a bronze-powder co lecting-box b which is provided at the upper and lower ends with openings which are connected by pipes (not shown) with an exhaust-fan for removin the bronze-dust collected in the box. T e end-wall of the box I), towards the outgoing end of the machine, is provided with hinged lids b which are held in position by means of pivothooks c which engage pins on the end-Wall of the bronze-dust collecting-box.

In adjustable bearings of the slotted sidestandards of the frame f are supported the shafts of two dust-removing rollers d, d, which are rotated in opposite direction to each other and to the direction of motion of the sheet to be dusted, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1, said rollers being provided with dust-guards d and preferably covered with cloth or other suitable material. The dust-guards d are located in the dust-collecting box I) and serve to prevent the dust from flying to the opposite side of the rollers and settling again on the already cleaned surface of the sheet. The cloth-coverings of the rollers form contact with; each other and give sufiiciently so as to permit the grippers that draw the bronzed sheet throu h the dust-box to pass through between t e rollers and throughthe flexible gates b in the end-walls of the box I).

Rotary motion is imparted to the dust-re-' moving rollers in opposite direction to each other by means of pulleys p of equal size which are applied to the ends of the shafts of 5 the rollers (Z, d, and by two belts which are driven by pulleys p of equal size, one on the driving-shaft S and the other on an auxiliary shaft S above the same, both shafts turning in suitable bearings at the ingoing end of the machine. On the driving-shaft S is mounted -a fast and a loose pulley for a power-belt which is -shifted from one pulley to the other by a suitable shifting-mechanism Z operated. by a hand-lever Z for starting and stopping the machine in the well-known manner. Motion is transmitted from the driving-shaft S by gear-wheels of equal diameter tothe auxiliary shaft S both shafts S and S transmitting, by means of the belts and pulleys described, rotary motion in opposite direction to the dust-removing rollers, as indicated by the arrows in Fig.- 1.

On the side-standards of the supportingframe are arranged, at the upper parts, grooved rails 7 which form a continuation of the feed-table f and which are provided at their outgoing ends with inclined portions W, as shown in dotted lines at the right-hand end of Fig. 1. In each grooved rail or way 1" is guided a gripper-bar slide a which is provided with rollers e that are guided in the grooves of the rails. Both ends of the gripper-bar slides e are connected with endless chains 9 which are composed for their greater portions of pivot-links and for their smaller portions, which pass over guide-pulleys at the outgoin' end of the machine, of stout belting whic connects the link-chains with the ends of the gripper-bar slides e. The 40 endless chains 9 are guided over a driveroller g which is located near the ingoing end of the machine and over a roller 9 located in adjustable bearings at the outgoing end of the machine, and also over a roller g which is located at the middle portion of the frame, the roller 9 being adjustable for keeping the chains in proper tension.

The endless chains, in place of receiving continuous motion in one direction, receive reciprocating motion so as to draw the sheet which is clamped by the gripper-bars through between the dust-removing rollers to the outgoing end of the machine, after which it is released and dropped 011 the delivery-shelf, the chains being then moved in opposite direction and returned to their normal position ready for receiving the next sheet. This reciprocating motion is imparted to the endless chains 9 by a toothed oscillating segment 9 which is mounted on a transverse shaft 9'' and which meshes with a pinion g on the shaft of the driving roller g of the reciprocating chains g. Oscillating motion is imparted to the toothed segment 9* from an auxiliary shaft S which is supported in bearings of the frame f parallel with the driving-shaft S, said shaft S receiving rotary motion by a gear-wheel transmission 9 g from the shaft S by a crank g" and intermediate connecting-rod g", which is pivoted at its lower end. to the crank and at its upper end to one end of the oscillating segment g, as shown in Fig. 4:. On the auxiliary shaft S are located two cams It, ll of which the cam h is located outside of the side-standards of the frame f and transmits motion by a connecting-rod h which is guided on the side-stamlards of the frame f, to a crank 71, on a transverse shaft 71/. This shaft carries a number of fced-guides If that are slightly bent downward at their lower ends so as to hold the sheet in proper position ready to be taken hold of by the grippermechanism, as indicated in Fig. 1. and in dotted lines in Fig. 7, so as to hold it in position for being taken hold of by the grippermechanism and then drawn in forward direction through the dust-removing box and the rollers in the same. The gripperplate 0 of the gripper -inecl1anism is pro vided with recesses IL" at its edge adjacent to the feed-guides 715 so as to permit them to hold the sheet without interfering with the movement of said gripper-plate. The cam h, which is located inside of the sidestandards of the framef, operates an angular tripping-lever i which is fulcrumed to suitable bearings of the supporting-frame and the longer arm of which is connected by a connecting-rod i with one end of a lever that is fulcrumed in projecting brackets on the upper part of the supporting-frame, and the opposite roller-carrying end of which engages at the proper time the gripper-bar mechanism so as to close the gripper-bar, which is supported on. the gripper-bar slides, on the ingoing end of the sheet preparatory to drawing the same through between the bronze-dust removing-rollers and the dustcollecting box to the opposite or outgoing end of the machine.

The gripper-mechanism consists of a tapering gripper-bar 0 which extends transversely from one roller-slide a to the other, and of a spring-actuated gripper-plate a" which is attached to a pivot-rod 5 at the front-end of the gripper-bar (2*. The gripper-plate e is actuated by helical springs 0', one end of which engages the transverse gripper-bar, while the other end acts on the gripper-plate so as to hold the same in inclined position away from the transverse bar, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The outer edge of the gripper-plate e is bent down wardly so as to press on the sheet which is fed to the gripper-mechanism and hold it in position between the gripper-bar e and the gripper-plate 6 when the levers i are operated so as to press on the links m attached to the ends of the pivot-rod e, and produce thereby the downward motion of-the links and gripper-plate so as to take hold firmly .of the end of the sheet between the same, as

shown in Fig. 2, so that the gravity-hooks m which are pivoted to the links m, engage pins m on the roller-slides e and lock the gripper p1ate to the gripper-bar, as shown in Fig. 2.

As soon as the locking gravity-hooks engage the pins m the action of the levers i is accomplished and the same are returned to their normally-inclined position, as shown in Fig. 1. Simultaneously with the gripping of the sheet by the gripper-mechanism, the forward motion of the endless chains com mences owing to the oscillating motion imparted to the segment 9 so that the sheet is drawn through between the dust-removing rollers 01 and the dust-collecting box towards the outgoing end of the machine. When the sheet has passed through the dust-collecting box and is entirely outside of the same, the roller-"slides arrive at the inclined portions of the guide-rails r. The lower ends of the locking-hooks m are then engaged by pivoted and weighted releasing-hooks n and released from the pins m so that instantly the gripper-plate is lifted away from the gripperbar by its springs so as to release the sheet and permit it to drop on the delivery-shelf 1]; 2 that is supported in suitable hangers at t e outgoing end of the machine, from which shelf the sheets are removed from time to time. As soon as the sheet is delivered at the outgoing end the motion of the chains is reversed and the ripper-bar passed back through the dust-codlecting box and between the dust-removin rollers to its original position, ready to ta e up the next sheet, WhlOh is then gripped by the action of the grippermechanlsm and locking-hooks in the manner before described. During the return-motion of the gripper-mechanism the links and the gripper-plate are held in downward position by the grooved guideways until they arrive below the crank-levers, when, by inclined openings in the guideways, they are lifted, with the gripper-plate, by the springs of the latter into close proximity to the crank-levers '6 as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, ready for receiving the next sheet to be dusted and ready for the next action of the cranklevers and the relocking of the gripper-plate by the locking-hooks to the pins of'the rollerslides, as shown in Fig. 2.

During the passage of the sheet through the dust-collecting box and dust-removing rollers the surplus bronze-powder which is on the upper and lower sides of the sheet is effectively removed by the frictional contact of the rollers with the same, so that only the quantity of bronze-powder required for the proper ornamentation of the sheet remains on the sheet, while the surplus bronze-powder is collected and retained for further use.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a machine for removing bronze-dust, the combination of reciprocating gripperchains, slides carried by said chains, a gripper-bar extending between said slides, a pivot-rod extending between said slides and rockable therein, a spring-actuated gripperplate mounted on said ivot-rod to coact with said rip er-bar, lin s mounted on the ends of said pivot-rod, levers having rollers at their ends to engage the free ends of said links and thereby depress the gri per-plate, and mechanism for operating said evers.

2. In a machine for removing bronze-dust, the combination, with a supporting-frame provided with ways, of slides guided in said ways, reciprocating gripper-chains attached to said slides, a gripper-bar extending between said slides, a rockable pivot-rod connecting said slides, a spring-actuated r'pperplate mounted on said pivot-rod, links mounted on the pivot-rod at its ends, means to depress the links and thereby cause the gripper-plate to move down on the gripperbar, a pin carried by each slide, gravity-hooks carried by said links and coacting with said pins to lock the gripper-plate in depressed position, and means at the delivery-end of said ways to abut against and release said gravity-hooks.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALBERT J. FORD.

Witnesses:

' PAUL GOEPEL,

HENRY J. SUHRBIER. 

